Flywheel instructors are mourning the cult-favorite cycling brand as its remaining studios shut down

• The fitness chain Flywheel Sports is shutting down its indoor cycling and barre studios as it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Tuesday.
• Former instructors have been sharing public social-media posts reflecting on their years of teaching at Flywheel Sports and thanking their "#FlyFam" and devoted class attendees.
• In March, Flywheel Sports laid off 98% of its employees due to the coronavirus pandemic's impact on in-person boutique fitness experiences.

Flywheel Sports is shutting down its remaining indoor cycling and barre studios as instructors around the US said their goodbyes to devoted fans on social media.

At its height, Flywheel Sports, which was founded in 2010 and obtained a cultlike status among riders for its competitive leaderboard system, had 42 indoor cycling and barre studios around the United States, including locations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington state, and Washington, DC.

In March, the coronavirus pandemic caused boutique fitness studios around the US to temporarily close. That month, Flywheel Sports temporarily laid off 98% of its employees.

And on Tuesday, Flywheel Sports filed for bankruptcy, saying in court documents it would permanently close all of its locations and lay off 1,200 employees.

Many instructors and devoted riders appeared to find out Flywheel's fate through social media.

A source close to the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, told Insider that "most instructors heard for the first time through someone else's [Instagram] posts" that Flywheel would shutter its remaining locations.

Mike Piscadlo, Flywheel Sports' vice president of operations and people, told Insider in a LinkedIn message on Monday that he no longer works for the company and declined to provide further comment.

Representatives for Flywheel Sports did not respond to Insider's requests for comment on the status of the company and its studios.

In recent days, several Flywheel Sports instructors have shared public Instagram and Facebook posts tagging the official @FlywheelSports Instagram handle and using the hashtag #FlyFam to write about their journeys with the fitness studio.

At the time of writing, Flywheel Sports has not shared an announcement regarding studio closures on its official social-media pages.

However, some apparent Flywheel Sports class attendees have written on Twitter that their studio locations are closing.

And on Sunday, a Flywheel Sports location in New York City's Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood shared an Instagram post thanking its attendees for "the last three wonderful years."

"Every rider, instructor, manager, and studio coordinator played an important role in making our studio home. We will miss your smiles, your PR's, your running in last minute (thanks L train) and all the fun memories you have given us since we opened in April 2017," the post read.

The Instagram account for the Flywheel location also updated its account's bio description to say "2017 - 2020."

In August 2019, Flywheel Sports closed 11 of its locations due to mounting competition with at-home cycling products, such as the Peloton bike.

"We decided to take a look at our national footprint and close studios that were under-performing," a Flywheel spokesperson previously told Bloomberg of its 2019 studio closures.

Flywheel Sports was launched in 2010 by cofounders Jay Galluzzo, David Seldin, and Ruth Zukerman, who also co-founded the competitor studio chain SoulCycle.

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